Suzhou-Style Red-Braised Pork Belly
Quick answer
- Total time
- 100 min
- Level
- Medium
- Servings
- 4 servings
- Ingredients
- 7
About this dish
The deep reddish brown of hong shao rou comes from sugar melted to caramel in the pot before any soy sauce goes in.
Read more
The caramel-coated pork belly braises in soy sauce and rice wine until the sauce clings to it in a thin glaze, and it goes over plain rice, sauce and all.
Ingredients
Instructions
- 1
Blanch 700 g pork belly in boiling water for 5 minutes, then lift it out.
Rinse away foam and blood residue, pat the surface dry, and cut the meat into 4 cm pieces.
- 2
Empty the pot and dry it completely before adding 1.5 tbsp sugar.
Melt it over low heat without stirring, swirling only if needed, and stop just before the caramel turns a deep amber.
- 3
Before the caramel burns, add the pork belly and roll the pieces over medium-low heat.
When the outside looks evenly glossy and brown, add 2 tbsp dark soy sauce and 2 tbsp soy sauce.
- 4
Pour in 2 tbsp rice wine, 1 tbsp ginger, and 600 ml water, scraping the bottom to release any caramelized bits.
Bring it to a boil, skim off foam, then cover the pot.
- 5
Reduce to low heat and braise slowly for 60 to 90 minutes.
Turn the pork every 20 minutes, and if the liquid drops too far, add a little water so the sauce does not scorch.
- 6
When the pork separates easily with chopsticks, uncover and reduce over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes.
Serve once the sauce clings thickly and the meat has a deep reddish-brown shine, ideally over steamed rice.
Use-up ingredient planner
Turn these ingredients into two more meals
The overlap excludes basic seasonings. Open the next recipe and your selected dishes will stay with you.
Dongpo Pork (Chinese Soy-Braised Melt-in-Mouth Pork Belly)
pork belly, ginger
Slow-Simmered Japanese Pork Belly (Kakuni)
pork belly, ginger
Korean Ginger Honey Latte
ginger